Jan 20, 2014

Chinese mobile phone maker Huawei is expected to start selling the 2GB version of the Honor 3C smartphone in its homeland market starting with January 24, the latest reports on the matter suggest.

According to GizChina, while the Honor 3C with 1GB of RAM has already managed to prove successful, the new version should attract even more users on its side. Starting with Friday, users in China will be able to buy the new model, which includes the same 1.3GHz MT6582 quad-core processor as the already available variant. The mobile phone will also sport a 13-megapixel camera on the back, along with a 5-inch display. It is powered by a 2300mAh battery, the same as the current model.

Huawei Honor 3C 2GB is expected to become available in the country with a price tag of 998 Yuan ($165/€122) attached to it, unlocked. It will offer dual-SIM capabilities and WCDMA support.

We reported about a week ago that Indian OEM iBerry planned to introduce its first octa-core smartphone in India at some point this month. Well, it looks like the company has just kicked off pre-order for the Auxus Nuclea N2, which is set to go on sale on January 23.

For the time being, the high-end smartphone is available for only Rs 19,990 ($325 / €240) off contract, but once the pre-order period ends, customers will be offered the Auxus Nuclea N2 for no less than Rs 23,990 ($390 / €285). The sequel to the iBerr Auxus Nuclea N1 comes with a powerful 1.7 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor, which is complemented by a Mali 450-MP4 graphics processing unit and 2GB of DDR3 RAM. In addition, the high-end smartphone packs 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 64GB via microSD memory card. Aside from the powerful processor, iBerry Auxus Nuclea N2 boasts a large 5.7-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution. This is another selling point of iBerry’s phablet.

According to fonearena, iBerry Auxus Nuclea N2 ships with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, but it’s upgradeable to newer versions OTA (over the air). This means that a KitKat update is not out of the question. Furthermore, the Auxus Nuclea N2 packs an impressive 13-megapixel photo snapper on the back, which features LED flash, BSI sensor, autofocus and full HD (1080p) video recording, while in the front there’s a secondary no less impressive 8-megapixel camera. The phone is powered by a high-capacity 3500 mAh battery that features wireless charging. Other highlights of the phablet include HSPA+ and HSUPA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS (with aGPS support) connectivity, as well as FM Radio, 3.5 mm audio jack and microUSB port.

Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi is reportedly getting ready for the launch of a nice range of new mobile phones in the not too distant future, including two successors of the popular Hongmi devices.

Apparently, the company might soon release a Hongmi M1S handset with the same physical design as the original device, but with a 1.7GHz MT6592 octa-core chip inside. Info coming from mydrivers also suggests that it would be priced at 799 Yuan ($132/€97.5). Furthermore, a Hongmi 2 smartphone is also expected to arrive on shelves this year, with the same processor packed inside, but with a larger, 5.5-inch 720p touchscreen display, priced at 999 Yuan ($165/€122).

On top of that, Xiaomi is said to be planning the release of a 4G LTE version of Xiaomi Mi3. Supposedly dubbed Xiaomi Mi3S, the handset would be powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974AC) processor. However, it should keep the rest of the specifications unchanged from the original Mi3.

Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi has confirmed the upcoming availability of two versions of its Xiaomi Mi3 flagship device, one set to hit shelves tomorrow, while the other is expected to be released by mid-February.

In a recent tweet, the company has confirmed that the Rose Red Xiaomi Mi3 will be launched on January 21 at 12:00 P.M., Beijing Time. Another post on twitter confirms that the Mi3 version destined for wireless carrier China Telecom will become available before the middle of the next month. “The Xiaomi MI3 China Telecom version will be available in China by mid-February,” the company said.

For those out of the loop, we should note that the smartphone was launched with a 5-inch IPS touchscreen display, a 2.3 GHz quad-core processor inside, 2GB of RAM, and a 13-megapixel camera on the back with full HD video recording capabilities.

The next Sony flagship smartphone codename Sirius has been recently spotted in various pictures that show its users interface and some of its features.

Details about the Sony Sirius (D6503) leaked as well, so we basically know a lot about the smartphone. Unless the Japanese company doesn't make any major changes we shouldn't have any surprises when the phone gets announced next month at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014. Until then, here is another live pictures of the Sony Sirius (D6503) side by side against the Xperia Z1, coming directly from XperiaBlog.

It appears that Sirius is slightly longer than the Xperia Z1, but that's understandable given the former packs a larger 5.2-inch display. On the other hand, the Sirius is thinner than the Xperia Z1. Bottom line is Sirius maintains the same design line of the Xperia high-end lineup of smartphones, which is not bad at all.

The next version of Android, provided that it will be called Android 4.5 or Android 4.4.3, could potentially break root applications, a recent post from Chainfire, a renowned Android developer, suggests.

According to him, a recent commit to the AOSP master tree will prevent the unconfined domain from executing files that are located on the /data partition. Basically, this includes all that is being run through su (super user) by default, though not all root applications were designed to extract to their app-specific files or lib directory from the /data partition and execute from there as root (yet most of them do so). Due to the aforementioned change in Android, the current setup will no longer work, but will result in an access denied error. Chainfire also notes that there are a series of workarounds for the issue, but that there is none that could work in all cases, and which might be implemented in su. App developers with root apps will need to update their software so as to ensure that they will work with the upcoming Android platform release (provided that Google does not change the setting in the meantime, of course).

Given that said OS version has yet to be made available, things are still uncertain, though devs are encouraged to start working on a way to bypass said issue as soon as possible. Moreover, Chainfire notes that some of the possible workarounds include “extracting and running from memory or rootfs […], piping commands directly to su instead of writing to a .sh first […], forcing a context switch to a non-unconfined domain by way of su parameter or runcon,” and the like. The commits are already available in AOSP master (here and here), devs can also compile a build, flash it to their devices (preferably one of the latest Nexus products), and take it for a spin to learn more on the matter.

They are also encouraged to download and install SuperSU 1.91 on the test device, as long as this is their Superuser solution of choice.

One of the features that have long been available for the owners of Nokia Lumia smartphones out there is HERE Transit, which enables users to easily find their way around town, and which has landed on Nokia Asha smartphones as well.

Owners of Nokia Asha 500, Asha 501, Asha 502, or Asha 503 devices interested in taking advantage of the application’s capabilities can now head over to the Nokia Store to grab it for free. With HERE Transit on their mobile phones, users will be able to easily plan their journey around town via public transport, as it provides access to scheduled departure/arrival times from public transport companies. “This schedule-based routing details precisely what time the next bus or train is due and does the same for any of your transfer points you may have along the way,” a post on Nokia Conversations explains. Of course, the timetable might not be available in all regions out there, so users will still be provided with estimated time for their journey.

“For most of us using public transport involves an amount of walking and HERE Transit takes this into account by also including walking times,” the aforementioned blog post explains. “Not only that, but you’ll also be presented with the walking route on screen so you know precisely which direction to go. This is extremely useful if your destination is unfamiliar to you and you require door-to-door navigation.” The application will also help users easily decide which route to take, courtesy of a visual journey options screen, which will inform them on how long each journey option takes, and whether any transit changes have been made.

Users can also learn more on the transport routes around them, courtesy of the Nearby transit feature of the application, which pinpoints their current location while displaying a number of nearby stations and stops. “In the interest of saving you valuable travelling time, there’s the option to save your favourite destinations and journey details. Download HERE Transit today and master the public transport,” said blog post continues. HERE Transit for Nokia Asha is available only for users in Sweden, Israel, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Spain, Finland, Hungary and New Zealand now.